U.S. patent number 4,435,463 [Application Number 06/385,360] was granted by the patent office on 1984-03-06 for supporting and spacing member for web material rolls.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Ace Polymers, Inc.. Invention is credited to Thomas A. Roellchen.
United States Patent |
4,435,463 |
Roellchen |
March 6, 1984 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Supporting and spacing member for web material rolls
Abstract
A structure for protectively supporting and spacing rolls of web
material in a multi-layer stack. The structure includes an
elongated member of expandable polystyrene material having a pair
of opposed surfaces. A first of the surfaces has a plurality of
spaced parallel generally semi-cylindrical indentations disposed to
receive rolls of web material. The radius of each of the
semi-cylindrical indentations being greater than the depth of the
indentation so that the rolls will be snugly retained within
indentations in a pair of members and the members will be out of
contact with each other. The member has a plurality of cavities
located on the lateral edge surfaces thereof extending transversely
of the axis of the semi-cylindrical indentation to render the
expanded foam material substantially uniformly thick throughout to
enhance uniform curing thereof. The cavities extend only partially
through the member and in the region located between adjacent
recesses, and each of said cavities have side walls which extend
parallel to the contour of the outer extremity of the member. Wall
segments are provided in the indentations only along one lateral
edge of the member.
Inventors: |
Roellchen; Thomas A. (Almena
Township, Van Buren County, MI) |
Assignee: |
Ace Polymers, Inc. (Kalamazoo,
MI)
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Family
ID: |
26929256 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/385,360 |
Filed: |
June 7, 1982 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
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235827 |
Feb 19, 1981 |
4385091 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
428/158; 108/901;
206/386; 206/391; 206/821; 428/156; 428/167; 428/174; 428/188;
428/192 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B26D
3/006 (20130101); B29C 44/445 (20130101); B65D
71/0096 (20130101); B65D 81/113 (20130101); B29C
67/20 (20130101); B65D 2571/00043 (20130101); B65D
2571/00111 (20130101); Y10S 206/821 (20130101); Y10S
108/901 (20130101); Y10T 428/2457 (20150115); Y10T
428/24628 (20150115); Y10T 428/24496 (20150115); Y10T
428/24777 (20150115); Y10T 428/24479 (20150115); Y10T
428/24744 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
B26D
1/00 (20060101); B29C 44/00 (20060101); B65D
81/113 (20060101); B65D 81/107 (20060101); B65D
71/00 (20060101); B65D 71/02 (20060101); B32B
003/26 (); B65D 085/67 (); B65D 085/62 () |
Field of
Search: |
;428/156,158,188,131,192,167,174 ;108/901,51.1 ;248/346
;206/821,386,391 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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1675329 |
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Mar 1954 |
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DE |
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1036035 |
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Aug 1958 |
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DE |
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808474 |
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Dec 1963 |
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DE |
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1879373 |
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Jul 1964 |
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DE |
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6927437 |
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Jul 1969 |
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DE |
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1778881 |
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Aug 1971 |
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DE |
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2003657 |
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Aug 1971 |
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DE |
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1097822 |
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Jul 1955 |
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FR |
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1392563 |
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Jul 1965 |
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FR |
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32859 |
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Jul 1981 |
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FR |
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30667 |
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Feb 1904 |
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CH |
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Other References
Sinclair-Koppers Company Bulletin, Cover and pp. 13 and 14, No.
9-273, Chapter 3..
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Primary Examiner: Thibodeau; Raul J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Flynn, Thiel, Boutell &
Tanis
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE OF THE INVENTION
This application is a continuation-in-part application of
application Ser. No. 235,827, filed Feb. 19, 1981, now U.S. Pat.
No. 4,385,091.
Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. In a structure for protectively supporting and spacing rolls of
web material in a multi-layer stack, comprising an elongated member
of expanded polystyrene material having a pair of opposed surfaces,
a first of said surfaces having a plurality of spaced, parallel,
generally semi-cylindrical indentations disposed to receive rolls
of web material, said indentations being separated by separating
walls, the endmost indentations being oriented between a separating
wall and an end wall, the radius of each of said semi-cylindrical
indentations being greater than the depth of said indentation,
whereby the rolls will be snugly retained within the indentations
in a pair of members and the members will be out of contact with
each other, the improvement comprising wherein at least one upright
and spaced wall segment is provided in each said indentation along
one lateral edge of said elongated member and between said
separating walls and associated end walls, each said wall segment
having an arcuate edge with a radius opposite the radius of said
semi-cylindrical indentation and conforming to the radius of a
respective indentation in an adjacent member thereby enabling, upon
a lengthwise shifting of one member relative to said adjacent
member, said wall segment in one indentation to be received in the
indentation of said adjacent member upon a nesting thereof and
without any lateral offset of said one member relative to said
adjacent member.
2. The structure of claim 1, wherein said elongated member has a
plurality of cavities located in each of the lateral edge surfaces
thereof extending parallel to the axis of said semi-cylindrical
indentations to render said expanded foam material substantially
uniformly thick throughout to enhance uniform curing thereof, said
cavities extending only partially through the member and in the
region located between adjacent indentations, each of said cavities
have sidewalls which extend parallel to the contour of the outer
extremity of said member.
3. The structure of claim 2, wherein a single cavity exists between
each semi-cylindrical recess and is oriented symmetrically
therebetween.
4. The structure of claim 1, wherein a pair of upright and spaced
wall segments is provided in each said indentation along said one
lateral edge of said elongated member, each side wall segment
having a said arcuate edge conforming to the radius of a respective
indentation in said adjacent member thereby enabling, upon a
lengthwise shifting of one member relative to said adjacent member,
said wall segments in one indentation to be received in the
indentation of said adjacent member upon a nesting thereof and
without any lateral offset of said one member relative to said
adjacent member.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to support members for protectively
supporting and spacing a plurality of rolls of material such as
cellophane in a multi-layer stack.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Certain types of material, such as cellophane, are typically stored
and transported in cylindrical rolls. Shipping and storing a
plurality of such rolls presents certain disadvantages, however, in
that the rolls have limited stability when stood on end and tend to
roll if laid on their sides. In addition, when the rolls are of a
material such as cellophane which is easily damaged, they require a
high degree of protection during shipment.
One approach to solving the foregoing problem is disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 4,195,732, in which elongated elements having spaced
indentations therein are adapted for protectively supporting and
spacing a plurality of rolls of cellophane material. The elongated
elements are placed between the rolls and a pallet, between stacked
layers of the rolls, and on top of the stack, and the stack is then
strapped to the pallet. This solution to the problem is relatively
effective in practice, but has not been satisfactory in all
respects. In particular, it has not proved to be sufficiently cost
effective, because individually molding each of the elongated
elements is expensive and time consuming.
Further, when the elongated elements are formed with a side wall
along one side edge thereof to protect the rolls against damage to
the exposed ends of the rolls such as is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 of
U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,732, a problem exists in shipping these
elongated elements from the point of manufacture to the point of
end use. That is, the lands on the elongated members will not nest
within the recesses without first causing one elongated member to
become laterally offset relative to another of the elongated
members.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide
elongated members of expanded polystyrene which are adapted for
protectively supporting and spacing a plurality of rolls of
material such as cellophane in a multi-layer stack and which have
an end wall structure adapted to nest within a recess without any
need to laterally offset one elongate member relative to an
associated other elongate member.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The foregoing and other objects of the invention are met by
providing elongated members which are of two types, one type having
a plurality of spaced, transverse grooves on one side thereof, and
the other type having a plurality of spaced, transverse grooves on
opposite sides thereof.
More specifically the elongated members have a pair of opposed
surfaces, one of the surfaces having a plurality of spaced parallel
generally semi-cylindrical grooves or indentations disposed to
receive rolls of web material, the radius of each of the
semi-cylindrical indentations being greater than the depth of the
indentations so that the rolls will be snugly retained within
indentations in a pair of elongated members and the elongated
members will be out of contact with each other. The elongated
members further have a plurality of cavities located on the lateral
edges thereof extending parallel the axis of the semi-cylindrical
indentations and in the lateral edge portion whereat the lands
between such indentations are located to render the expanded foam
material substantially uniformly thick throughout to enhance
uniform curing thereof, said cavities extending transversely of the
lengthwise axis of the elongate member only partially through the
land portion of said elongated members.
The elongated members further have an upright wall structure along
one of said lateral edges and in each indentation, which wall
structure is nestable within an indentation and an associated other
one of the elongated members.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects, purposes and advantages of the invention will be
apparent to persons acquainted with apparatus of this general type
upon reading the following description and inspecting the
accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the expanded polystyrene sheet of
the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a single grid electric wire
cutter;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an end member produced according to
the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a spacer member produced according
to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a multi-layer stack of rolls
supported and spaced on a pallet by the end members and spacer
members of the present invention;
FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views of a modified end member and a
spacer member;
FIG. 8 is an end view of a pair of nested elongated members;
and
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the lines IX--IX of FIG.
8.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for
convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words
"up" and "down" will designate directions in the drawings to which
reference is made. The words "in" and "out" will respectively refer
to directions toward and away from the geometric center of an
element or device and designated parts thereof. Such terminology
will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof
and words of similar import.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a sheet 10 molded from expanded polystyrene in
a conventional manner is of generally rectangular shape and has top
and bottom surfaces 11 and 12 which extend parallel to each
other.
The sheet 10 has a plurality of spaced, parallel openings 14 which
extend therethrough from the top surface 11 to the bottom surface
12 and are arranged in parallel rows. In the preferred embodiment
of FIG. 1, there are forty-eight openings 14 arranged in twelve
rows, each row having four openings 14 and being spaced a
substantially uniform distance from adjacent rows. As illustrated
in FIG. 1, each of the openings 14 is preferably of substantially
elliptical cross section, oriented so that the major axis of the
ellipse extends parallel to the rows of openings and the minor axis
of the elipse is perpendicular to the rows of openings.
Five shallow cavities 16 are provided in the top surface 11 of the
sheet 10 between each pair of adjacent rows of openings 14. The
cavities 16 are spaced from the openings 14 and from each other to
render the expanded foam material substantially uniformly thick
throughout to enhance a more uniform curing during the molding
process of the thicker portions of the sheet 10. Similar cavities
are provided in the bottom surface 12 in a symmetric fashion. Thus,
and as shown in FIG. 1, there are four cavities 16 spaced
symmetrically around each opening 14.
Referring to FIG. 2, a single grid electric hot wire cutter is
designated generally by the reference numeral 37. The wire cutter
37 is of a conventional type and is therefore not described here in
extensive detail. The wire cutter 37 has a base 38 with fourteen
transversely extending slots 39 in the top thereof. Upright guide
members 42 and 43 are mounted to the base 38 at opposite ends
thereof and a hot wire grid 44 is slidably supported on the guide
members 42 and 43 for reciprocal vertical movement. A drive
mechanism 46 of conventional design is operatively connected to the
grid 44 by a drive element 47 and effects the reciprocal vertical
movement of the grid 44 on the guide members 42 and 43.
The hot wire grid 44 has a pair of spaced and parallel wire support
bars 48, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 2. Extending tautly
between the wire support bars 48 are fourteen spaced and parallel
cutting wires 51-64 which are electrically heated in a conventional
manner to a temperature sufficiently hot to quickly melt
polystyrene brought into contact with them. The wires 51-64 of the
grid 44 and the slots 39 in the base 38 are positioned so that, in
the lowermost position of the grid 44, each of the wires 51-64 is
received in a respective one of the slots 39.
A vertical stack of seven of the sheets 10, designated in FIG. 2 by
the reference numerals 10A-10G, is placed on top of the base 38
beneath the hot wire grid 44. The drive mechanism 46 is then
actuated, and acts through the drive element 47 to move the grid 44
downwardly. The two wire support bars 48 pass on opposite sides of
the stack 10A-10G and the hot cutting wires 51-64 each melt a path
through the sheet 10, thereby dividing each sheet 10A-10G
simultaneously into fifteen elongated members. Specifically, the
hot wires 51-64 respectively subdivide the sheet 10 along vertical
planes which, referring again to FIG. 1, are designated by broken
lines and the respective reference numerals 21-34. The sheets
10A-10G are positioned in the wire cutter 37 so that the cutting
wires 51, 53-62 and 64 each bisect the surface of each of the
openings 14 in a respective row of such openings into two
substantially semi-cylindrical portions. The cutting wires 52 and
63 slice through the sheet 10 intermediate the two outermost rows
of openings 14 at respective ends of the sheet 10.
The fifteen separate members into which each sheet 10 is subdivided
by the fourteen cutting wires 51-64 are designated by reference
numerals 71-85 in FIG. 1. The six members 71-73 and 83-85 are end
members, and the members 74-82 are spacer members. The end members
71-73 and 83-85 and the spacer members 74-82 are described in
greater detail hereinafter.
The end member 71 is illustrated in FIG. 3. End member 71 is
elongated and of a generally rectangular shape, and has four
spaced, transverse grooves 88 in one side thereof separated by
separating walls 89A, the endmost indentations being oriented
between a separating wall 89A and an end wall 89B. The grooves 88
are each defined by a substantially semi-cylindrical surface which
defined a portion of the surface of one of the openings 14 before
the sheet 10 was subdivided. The width 91 of the side having the
grooves 88 is preferably greater than or equal to the width 92 of
the adjacent side of the member 71, so that the member 71 will be
stable in use and will not have a tendency to tip. End members 72,
73 and 83-85 are substantially identical in size and shape to the
end member 71 and are therefore not described in detail.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of a spacer member 74. Spacer member 74
is elongated and of generally rectangular shape. Four spaced,
transverse recesses or grooves 95 are provided on one side of the
member 74, and four spaced, transverse grooves 96 are provided on
the opposite side of the member 74, each aligned with a respective
groove 95 and each being separated from one another by a separating
wall 97A, the endmost indentations being oriented between a
separating wall 97A and an end wall 97B. The width 98 of the sides
having the grooves 95 and 96 is preferably greater than or equal to
the width 99 of the adjacent sides of the member 74, so that the
member 74 will be stable in use and not have a tendency to tip
over.
FIG. 5 illustrates how thirty-two rolls 101 of a material like
cellophane can be stacked on a pallet 102 using the members 71-85.
Three end members 71-73 are first placed in a spaced relationship
on top of the pallet 102 with the grooves therein facing upwardly.
A layer of eight rolls of material 101 is then placed in the
grooves in the end members 71-73, four of the rolls being supported
by the end members 71 and 72 and the other four being supported
coaxial therewith by the end members 72 and 73. Three spacer
members 74-76 are then positioned on top of the first layer of
rolls 101 and above the end members 71-73, respectively, and a
second layer of eight rolls 101 is placed in the upwardly facing
grooves of the spacer members 74-76. Two additional layers are then
added to the stack in a similar manner, utilizing the remaining
rolls 101 and the spacer members 77-82. The end members 83-85 are
then placed on the top layer of rolls 101 in a spaced relationship
and angle bars 103 are added to protect the edges of the end
members 83-85. Metal strapping 104 is then utilized to securely
strap the multi-layer stack to the pallet 102 and to stabilize the
various layers of the stack.
As shown in FIG. 1, the outer end of each roll 101 is preferably
spaced inwardly from the outermost side of each of the outermost of
the members 71-85 in order to provide increased protection for the
rolls 101. It is often desirable, however, to offer additional
protection of the rolls by providing a wall structure 110 (FIGS. 6
to 9) in each of the grooves 95, which wall structure has an edge
structure shaped to conform with the bottom wall surface of a
recess. More specifically, the wall structure 110 is provided only
on the members that will be oriented on the outside of the pallet
arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5, namely, members 71, 73, 74, 76,
77, 79, 80, 82, 83 and 85. Further, the thickness of the wall
structure 110 is generally equal to the wall thickness between the
bottom wall of each indentation or groove and the cavities 16. As
shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, each wall structure 110 is comprised of two
wall segments 110A and 110B, each of which has an arcuate edge
structure having a radius R equal to the radius of each groove 95.
Thus, when a pair of members are, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9,
shifted lengthwise relative to each other and oriented into a
nested array, the wall segments 110A and 110B are received in the
grooves 95 so that the arcuate edges thereof occupy the edge of the
space 111 that would have otherwise existed between the bottom
walls of adjacent grooves had the wall segments 110A and 110B not
been present. Thus, of the fifteen members provided, ten would
constitute members used on the exposed ends of the rolls and would,
therefore, have the aforesaid wall segments thereon.
The nestability feature of the wall segments in the grooves
provided an unexpected high percentage increase in the space
available for product in a vehicle utilized for shipping product
from the point of manufacture to the point of end use, that is, the
shipper of rolled material. It has been estimated that the extra
space caused by the nesting feature enables the shipment of 35
percent more product in the same space.
Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have
been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be
recognized that minor variations or modifications thereof lie
within the scope of the present invention.
* * * * *